About a week ago I spent $2 on Penultimate, an iPad app that lets you scribble notes on the screen and save them in notebooks. Maybe I didn’t have to though, because tablet-maker Wacom has recently released their own free iPad app, Bamboo Paper, that does basically the same thing. Almost.
Yesterday, we published extracts from a press release where PhantomAlert, an app that helps drivers avoid all kinds of potential tickets, boasted that its DUI checkpoints were staying put and that it had “defied” the senators who convinced Apple to ban DUI info.
CEO Joe Scott wrote to us, essentially retracting the whole release, also stating for the record that the company does not condone or encourage drinking and driving.
Got an idea for a killer app? Consider huddling up for a weekend hackathon with designers and developers at iOSDev Camp 2011.
FaceKandi is a new app that uses Apple’s FaceTime chat to hook you up with real live people to “chat, flirt, make friends or simply have a bit of fun.”
The live, one-on-one FaceTime chat works on the iPhone 4, the iPad 2 and the fourth-gen iPod Touch. The devs say the app does not store your personal data, or record your Facetime ID.
A company got in touch with Cult of Mac after our story about Apple enforcing the ban on iPad giveaways. Their apps were being held in limbo — see email above — during the iTunes approval process due to a contest they were running.
Stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place, they opted to pull the iPad contest. (The giveaway had been a major way, they told us, to get the apps better known.)
Apple’s new iOS 5 Weather app now delivers the local weather for your current location by default. Therefore you’ll always have a “here you are” weather report each time you open the app.
Evernote launched today a free new app designed entirely around the iPad 2’s Smart Cover. It’s called Evernote Peek.
The app is designed for learning and memorization, and works like flash cards. You point the app at some content in your Evernote account that you’d like to learn. Then the Smart Cover magic happens. Just lift up the first segment of the cover to see the question. Try to remember it, and lift up the next segment to see the answer. To move to the next question, just close the cover.
Evernote also gives you hints on how to best create notes to learn with the app. Brilliant.
Apple’s new iMessage app was one of the biggest surprises at WWDC yesterday. Once I got iOS 5 and Lion installed on my devices, I asked our Twitter followers what they wanted to know about the new OSes and we got a lot of questions about iMessage and how it works. There seems to have been a bit of confusion regarding the new service, so let me help explain how iMessage works on iOS 5.
Apple released an update to iBooks today that incorporates a new feature called read-along plus the usual improvements and bug fixes we typically expect from Apple.
Apple has updated Find My iPhone today to improve support for devices that are offline.
Looks like the small tweaks are starting to roll in. A couple of our Twitter followers sent us pictures of a new feature for the App Store on their iPhones that allows them to view their recent app purchase. The app lets you view not only what you’ve purchased, but also what apps aren’t installed on the current iOS device you’re using.
Creating a new iOS app can be a daunting task. Keeping track of all the ideas, pricing schemes, graphics, and collaborations can leave a developer feel swamped. The guys behind App Cooker hope to solve all those problems by providing the most advanced iOS mockup tool made exclusively for the iPad.
Jam packed with incredible features, App Cooker aims to be a must-have tool for all app developers and designers. Here’s a quick video of some of the things App Cooker can do for you:
The guys over at Alphonso Labs have put a lot of hard work into their iPad app Pulse. Despite the plethora of reader apps out there, Pulse really stands out with its sleek interface that allows users to read vast amounts of content without feeling overwhelmed by the myriad of sources.
As fans of the app, we’re stoked that the Pulse team has decided to include Cult of Mac under their main “Featured” section. If you’re looking for another way to get your Apple and Cult of Mac fix on your iPad or iPhone, then Pulse is definitely an app that you need to check out. And make sure you add our feed while you’re at it.
Apple has released an update to Logic Express and Pro so that both applications support the ability to open projects that users create on an iPad using GarageBand on that platform.
If you’ve ever wanted to download torrents on your iOS device, then iTransmission is the way to go. While Apple (currently) wouldn’t let something like this into the App Store, you can download it for free from the InsanelyI Cydia repo (repo.insanelyi.com). iTransmission is currently in alpha, so there may be some bugs. It’s very easy to use, works very well, and works for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and the iPad. For you developers out there, iTransmission is open-source.
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One of the best things about Apple is how focused they are on allowing their users to bring out their own creativity through the use of their devices. One of our talented readers, George, tweeted us a link to his awesome guitar solo video on YouTube. We’re not a music-centric blog, but we think the composition is pretty neat when you consider that he’s made the entire song on his iPad. If you have something remarkable you’ve created on your iPad and would like to share it with us, get on Twitter and send us a link (@cultofmac). We’d love to show your work off for you.
Humble or inspire yourself with a digital copy of the real Da Vinci Code on your iPad.
Leonardo’s war machines from the 1,000-plus-page Codex Atlanticus are now available for your perusal.
The new “Apple Store 2.0” concept improves retail stores to make life better for customers. Apple bolted customized iPads to the tables next to products so you can get information, comparison shop, and even get help from a live human. Hmmm. Using iPads to improve stores. Great idea!
Now how about fixing the iPad App Store!
Don’t get me wrong. The current App Store is better than others in the industry. But so were Apple’s retail stores. Apple still improved those.
The biggest iPad App Store flaws fall into three categories. First, apps are not as “discoverable” as they should be. Second, the App Store seems overly optimized for bringing in revenue for Apple at the expense of user convenience. And third, arbitrary annoyances around downloading apps make the experience less appealing than it should be.
Rumors have been circulating for the last week or so about changes to Apple’s online and retail stores. Now a new one has cropped up about the Apple Store iOS app.
You can now touch the Holy Land with your iPad and send prayers there with a new app called Terra Sancta. It’s the latest offering from the most wired priest in the world, Father Paolo Padrini.
Take a trip through this iPad-controlled abode – where the owners set the thermostat, spy on loved ones, set the alarm and watch movies thanks to Apple’s magical device.
A new iPad app lets you put your hands all over some of Italy’s most stunning art works.
Company Centrica puts hi-res images of Florence museum the Uffizi, including Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni, into an app called UffiziTouch.
Update: The app is now in the App Store: https://bit.ly/countcon
Here’s a simple app that’s unlike anything we’ve seen so far. CountCon, soon to be available in the iTunes App Store for $0.99, will allow you to set a countdown (seconds, minutes, hours, days). The countdown will then appear on your home screen as a badge that automatically updates when needed. It’s currently being reviewed. And finally, it’s a universal application. Check out the demo video after the break!
It may not be as pretty as an Apple product (but seriously — what is), and at $180, it’s almost double the price of the ATV. But Elgato’s HDHomeRun comes in swinging for the fences with a trick Apple’s little black coaster doesn’t have: the ability to stream live TV, in HD, to your Mac or iPad — even over a 3G connection.
While the iPad has seemingly countless uses, one fairly uncommon one is the ability to use it as an external display for your Mac. iDisplay, a simple little app from the App Store, lets you achieve this. After all, if you already have the iPad, why not use it to your advantage? This video will show you how to set up iDisplay and tweak it to your liking.